50 SLA troops killed - VoT

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]Over fifty Sri Lankan Army soldiers (SLA) were killed and a large number were wounded when the Liberation Tigers counter attacked a column of SLA troops which began to advance from their positions west of Ampakamam last Thursday, the Voice of Tigers (VoT) said today.

The SLA column split in to two groups and retreated when it came under the attack by the Tigers, the radio said.

Tigers surrounded one of these groups and inflicted heavy casualties, it said.

Bodies of 20 SLA soldiers were recovered by the Tigers, the radio said.

9 bodies will be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the other 11 were unrecognisable and cremated by the Tigers, the radio said.

Nine Liberation Tigers died in the fighting near Ampakamam, the radio said.

Ampakamam, is 7 km north of Kara Patta Murippu, an interior village on the Mankulam-Mullaitheevu road, 10 km east of strategic Mankulam junction.

Sri Lankan Army sources said that 8 soldiers were killed and 18 were wounded in the fighting yesterday. However, they declined to give further details.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) sources said that four LTTE boats carrying medical supply to the Vanni battle front were destroyed, by the Air Force jets in Chaalai in the Mullaitheevu district today.

They said, they estimated between 10 and 15 tigers were killed in this attack.